International Magical Relations
by Silver Inklett
Summary: He had been perfectly content to just sit and enjoy her presence until he had noticed the tan, overly-large tank top that the Hufflepuff was wearing, a proud phoenix spreading its wings wide across the curves of her chest. Once Gajeel had noticed it, he hadn't been able to look away [Triwizard Tournament AU ficlet]


"You know, I do not think is part of Tournament to steal champions' clothing."

Gajeel looked up at Levy with a grin, her eyes never leaving the book she was reading even as she poked him between his eyebrows. He huffed and squirmed against her thigh. She kept reading.

"Of course it is," the Hufflepuff witch said, "don't you recall? This competition is a chance to improve international magical relations, blah blah blah."

"Vhat does relations haff to do vith my shirt?"

"Durmstrang has a long history, I'm connecting to my roots."

"Yes, roots. I didn't know roots vere so deep in my laundry."

Levy finally looked at him, brown eyes glinting in the candlelight as she smirked at him. They were currently relaxing in one of the many study rooms inside of Hogwarts; Levy had described them once as common rooms for the whole school instead of the separate houses. During this year, however, it had become a place for students of all three schools to hang out together. There were several students from Beauxbatons chatting with a group of Gryffindors on one side of the room, and if Gajeel arched his head back far enough, he could see Juvia and Levy's Slytherin friend, Cana, speaking to each other in low voices with their heads bent together. Gajeel could make out the sound of his youngest cousin giggling from across the room, where Wendy was strewn across Natsu and Lucy's laps and was currently listening to them bicker.

Levy and himself had claimed one of the loveseats against the wall, closest to one of the fireplaces. Well, more like Levy had claimed the chair and he had claimed _her._ She had already been reading when he had stomped into the room, not bothering with pleasantries as he sat on the floor and leaned back so the curve of her upper leg was tucked against the back of his neck. He had been perfectly content to just sit and enjoy her presence until he had noticed the tan, overly-large tank top that the Hufflepuff was wearing, a proud phoenix spreading its wings wide across the curves of her breasts. The shirt was nearly hidden under the long cardigan she wore around her thin shoulders to keep the cold out, but once Gajeel had noticed it, he hadn't been able to look away.

Levy was always a mess of colors, but seeing his own featured so prominently made his chest swell with pride. Cana had once jokingly told him that the houses sometimes fought over the little witch, since Levy had so many friends across the entire school. She had ties from every house to use as headbands and belts, though she made sure that the one around her neck was always black and gold. Today, he could make out a silken blue scarf keeping her equally as blue locks twisted into a bun, and silently congratulated Juvia for getting some Beauxbatons representation in Levy's ensemble. She was the Triwizard Tournament personified, and his desire to win the cup suddenly increased at the thought.

"Have you come just to be a nuisance?" Levy asked, placing her hand on his chest to balance herself as she leaned over him. His hand instantly covered hers, and he grinned.

"I alvays haff time to be nuisance," he teased. Levy giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Gajeel, really, don't you have any training to do?" she asked curiously. The three champions had all agreed not to discuss their plans to overcome the next challenge with each other, despite the fast friendship that had formed between them, but that didn't stop Levy from routinely checking on them both. Juvia's hair was still wet at the tips, so he figured Levy's worries had been appeased and she hadn't bothered the Beauxbatons girl.

"I vas training all this morning," he reassured her, patting the hand on her chest. "And you?"

"Today's my day off. I need to catch up on my reading anyways."

"And you haff nerve to nag me?"

_"Gajeel."_

_"Leffy,"_ he responded, wincing at how he butchered her name. He could hear Juvia giggling from where she sat with Cana, and mentally cursed her. Damn her and her neutral accent. "Vhere did you get my shirt anyhow?"

"Who said it was yours?" Levy said cooly, the only hint of her lie being the amusement that made her eyes shine.

Gajeel simply reached for the hem of the tank top, flipping it up so she could see his initials carefully stitched into the fabric. He still remembered how his mother had teased him about needing new clothes faster than she could sew the summer that he had gotten this shirt, caught in the middle of his last growth spurt.

"Okay, fine, Wendy gave it to me," Levy relented, leaning away from him to rest against the back of the loveseat. He held her hand tight to his chest when she tried to pull it away, the heat of her palm burning through each layer of clothing.

"And vhy did she give it to you?" he asked, the corners of his lips pulling up.

"I asked her if I could have a Durmstrang shirt, this is the one she gave me," the Hufflepuff said with a shrug. "I didn't say 'Hey Wendy, feel like stealing some of your cousin's clothes for me to sleep in', if that's what you're asking."

Gajeel's chest puffed up further. "You've slept in it?"

"Down, boy," Levy said with a nervous chuckle, pushing lightly against his chest. She had always been flirtatious with him (And with anything that moved, honestly. He blamed Cana's influence), but it wasn't until after they had gone to the Yule Ball together and she realized that his affections for her were genuine did she become shy around him.

The worst moment had been when she had asked him to the Yule Ball, but that was a disaster in and of itself; not that he had handled the situation with any more grace than she.

"Vell," he said, relaxing against her leg again with his eyes closed and twining his fingers with hers, "I think it looks good on you." Gajeel pointedly disregarded the feeling of heat prickling at his ears and climbing up the back of his neck, but he couldn't possibly ignore the way her fingers tightened around his own.

"Well in that case, I guess you don't mind if I keep it."

"I didn't say that."

Levy's laughter made him feel weightless, and he grinned. There were a few quiet moments when Gajeel simply rested against her, listening to the scratching of quills and the crackling of the fire, before a soft pair of lips pressed gently against the corner of his mouth. His eyes shot open, but Levy was already back to reading her book when he stared at her in silent shock. There was a distinct pinkness to her cheeks that made the light freckles dusted across the bridge of her nose stand out adorably.

It wasn't the first time they had kissed, but his heart was certainly reacting like it was. Had his two cousins not gone silent across the room, undoubtedly watching them, Gajeel would have happily tugged the short witch back down towards him and asked for a proper kiss, or perhaps that they take her book and return to the Durmstrang ship where they could have some peace and quiet.

But he could feel Wendy and Natsu's eyes on him like wolves that had spotted an injured rabbit, so he simply brought her hand up from his chest and kissed her calloused knuckles.

Her eyes tripped over whatever line she was reading and darted to him for a moment, and he smiled against her skin.

"If you are really so partial to that shirt," he said conversationally, like he wasn't plotting on how to get her out of the crowded room and all to himself, "I might let you keep it."

"How generous of you," Levy said, her voice a little too breathless to be properly teasing. He grinned, feeling unduly pleased to have flustered her so.

"Maybe as consolation vhen I vin the tournament," he said slyly, and the fire was back in her eyes in a heartbeat.

"Oh? Are you so sure about that?"

"I am."

"That sounded like a challenge, Redfox."

"I do believe that is point of competition, yes?"

"TAKE IT UPSTAIRS YOU TWO!"

Levy and Gajeel both jumped, the latter glaring over at Cana as she smirked at them. There were loud snickers from everyone in the room, and a few wolf whistles that prompted Gajeel to stand up and remind them that Durmstrang's reputation for teaching practical Dark Arts was not just a rumor. But before he could reach for his wand, a small hand grabbed him by the waistband of his pants and dragged him out of the room, the small witch ignoring how Gajeel was yelling at everyone in very loud Bulgarian.

"You wanna go hang out on the ship?" she asked quietly as soon as they were out of earshot, and Gajeel's curses died on his tongue. He looked at her over his shoulder, and her blush had moved to the back of her neck. When she turned to look at him, however, her smile was warm and sure, and he felt his lips pulling up of their own accord to match her grin.

"Vill you be trying to steal anymore of my clothes?"

"Oh my god Gajeel, shut up."

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_So this is kind of a sneak peek of my Triwizard au I'm working on. I wanted to see what kind of reaction it would get over here on ffNet, so the more reviews and faves this fic gets, the faster I'm gonna post the actual fic. This takes place in the canon Harry Potter universe 14 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, tho I will be retconing a lot of deaths and a few ships (I am Krumione trash don't look at me). The major ships in the fic are gonna be Gajevy and Juvana, with some established NaLu and Simza thrown in._

_Thanks for reading, and hopefully updates on my other fics are going to be coming soon!_

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_do-fairys-have-tails . tumblr . com_


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